P/O Prune ?

[Tee Emm]

Don't tell the Politically Correct Brigade this but you will all be delighted to know that on pageXXX of my Tee Emm book there is a picture of a smiling dark skinned black and white minstrel chappie which is an advertisement saying "Darky For a Happy Landing." - available at Airfields, Occults, Pundits and Royal Observer posts. Then an issue later the editor adds: "Darky Regrets." ..it is not often an advertiser apologises for an overstatement..we have, however, been asked by the advertisers of Darky to tell all concerned that the word Pundits was inserted in error. As Darky and Pundits don't mix, the advertisers have asked us to express their regrets and to state in all other respects their claims for the use of Darky are fully justified by experience."

"Darky" was a radio aid with bearings passed to the aircraft by voice radio. Also re the M.H.D.O.I.F. Like the Bar to decorations, the equivalent to Bars to the Pprune award were Joints. for example The Most Highly Derogatory Order of the Irremoveable Finger with Five Joints was awarded to....

[Davaar]

Originally Posted by BEagle

the MHDOIF - the Most Highly Derogatory Order of the Finger (or was it 'digit')

Just come across this thread. I think you are right on "digit". In my very strong recollection the "Order" was the "Most Highly Derogatory Order of the Irremovable Digit", which was associated with the command, a standard in those days, to "Dedigitate!", or "Get the Finger Out!". Those who did not dedigitate were known to have "finger trouble" at the time a common cause of accidents, mayhem, death or what-have-yiou.

PO Prune was the creation of collaboration between the cartoonist William John Henry ("Bill") Hooper (August 24, 1916 to October 14, 1996) and the author and playwright Anthony Armstrong Willis (who wrote mainly as "Anthony Armstrong" or "AA"). PO Prune was originally a fighter pilot, but broadened his skills, moving to Bomber Command where he acquired a navigator, a bomb-aimer, and an air-ginner each as gifted as himself.

His girl friend, the W.A.A.F. (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) Winsum, was also in the service.

As a schoolboy, Hooper was often in trouble for wasting his time drawing cartoons. He worked for a while (unpaid) as a youth for the famed forensic pathologist Sir Francis E Camps, whom I once met.

He volunteered for the trade of air-gunner at the start of WW2, but was sent to No 54 Squadrin, RAF, as groundstaff. He continued to sketch cartoons, noticed by, among others, his C.O., Squadron Leader R F Boyd, RAF. S/Ldr Boyd asked him to illustrate a compendium of hints he was himself preparing for his pilots.

This product found its way to the Air Ministry, which put Hooper in touch with Armstrong who had just been appointed editor of the new "Tee Emm" ("Training Memoranda").

PO Prune's very first appearance was on the inevitable table-napkin at a lunch between Hooper and Armstrong.

Hooper's obituary appeared in The Times for 28 October, 1996.

P.S. The expression "a poor prune" itself appears to have a much longer
history. I find references in light literature, early plays of the 20th century, musicals (Kern), and so on, and I even had a schoolteacher who occasionally used it. Perhaps that is where Armstrong and Hooper found part of their inspiration. Can anyone add anything?

[John Eacott]

Finger or Digit?

I'm lucky enough to have both a bound full set of original Tee Emms, and a copy set produced by the Australian War Museum

To lay at rest the Finger/Digit discussion, here is a scan of one of the monthly "Awards"






And don't forget 'Binder', P/O Prune's dog:

Pedigree: By Intruder out of Bandit
'I certify that the dog is well-behaved, house-trained and thoroughly mess-broken'

Does the current PC force allow dogs to be taken to work these days? I used to take mine

[SirPeterHardingsLovechild]

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=119188

And you can get it all on a CD for £20

http://www.cleaford.co.uk/teeemm.htm

[Brian Abraham]

Does the current PC force allow dogs to be taken to work these days? I used to take mine

John - they're talking about you at

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=250271

[sillytwistedboy]

Although I have Lurked around these forums for some time, I have never previously posted as, having no connection with the Aviation Industry other than as an interested bystander and paying customer, I have felt it better to allow my elders (not many) and betters (nearly everybody) to do the talking.
However, I may be able to add something to the early history of P/O Prune. I have a book entitled 'Pick of Punch', which is a collection of articles from 'Punch' Magazine, in this case for the year 1942, which includes a story by Anthony Armstrong entitled 'Flies and the RAF'. The story describes a meeting of the Fly Inverted-Landing Commitee in the Mess at RAF Prangmere, among those present being P/O Prune, F/O Talespin, P/O Nosedyve, various others and a considerable amount of alcohol. The discussion centres around the age-old mystery of how flies land on the ceiling, and, inevitably ends in disaster.
It is quire funny, in a 1942 sort of way, and I would be happy to scan and mail it to anyone who is interested.
I did have more wartime editions of 'PoP', and I'm sure the venerable Prune appeared in other stories, but they seem to have gone the way of all Flesh, and I can't check!


stb

[virgo]

Mhdooif

I think the following award absolutely typifies the sort of thing that merited the award............................

1945. The M.H.D.O.I.F. has been awarded to F/O ******* who landed at Abingdon for fuel.
When asked by Station Flight, he didn't know whether his Spitfire was a Mk 14 or 16, whether it required 100, 130 or 145 octane fuel or what the maximum Take-off RPM or boost was. All he knew was that he'd been told to land at Benson if he got short of fuel. "This IS Benson, isn't it ?" he asked.

(He was probably a jolly nice chap though !)

[A2QFI]

Tee Emm Books

I have just found 30+ assorted Tee Emm books for sale on www.abebooks.com - a site which involves 13,500 sellers with over a million books in stock. Worth a look - some are not too expensive, like £10

[windriver]

25th Anniversary Tribute

Just came across a 25th anniversary tribute to P/O Prune in the May 1966 Air Clues... you can read it here....
http://content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/prune/

P.O. Prune says that guy's been in the Air Force so long he put
Wilbur Wright through his I.T.W.

[David Layne]

[Wod]

Thank you.